Running Total Collective Artist Debt

$55,212,069.84

Diane Fraser

Are you in debt How Did you get into Debt?

I am not in debt.

How do you make a living?

I live on a fixed income from a retirement pension supplemented by part-time employment and art sales. I have no debt, but live very close to the edge. It is my goal to maintain equilibrium between art sales and art expenses; i.e., gallery rent, art supplies, website. Art expenses for 2015 total $9,500 and art sales total $11,500. I call that breaking even. My personal budget cannot support my art expenses, so it is mandatory that I make sales. My art sales are not profit income.

How does your debt affect your art practice?

The fact that it is an economic reality I make sales to support my art expenses definitely impacts my art practice. I make creative decisions based on my experience of what will sell. I am less likely to experiment or commit to large collaborative work, public installations or technology-based artwork. My studio practice is more repetition and variation than innovation and discovery.